Digital publishing news for July 22, 2013
Adweek reports that Condé Nast has had their biggest September for ad page sales in 5 years. Each year the ad page contest is held to see how many ad pages are sold in the September issues of certain publications. The contest is seen as a measurement for how the industry is doing. Adweek reports that, “The Condé Nast book weighed in last year at 658 ad pages; this year, publisher Susan Plagemann added 1 percentage point for a total of 665 total ad pages. That marks four issues in a row of growth and Vogue’s second largest issue ever, (2007 remains the record-breaker with 725 ad pages, but that number included a Fashion Rocks supplement.)”
Bon Appetit also saw a boost of 49% in the number of ad pages sold. Good signs for magazine publishers as we head into Q3 of 2013.
Forbes Paired Perfectly With Wine
The publisher partnerships keep happening. Forbes Media & Lot18 are partnering to create a Forbes Wine Club. Crain has a full report on how the wine club works, “after members do an initial tasting with a sampler kit and fill out an online survey, they’re shipped wine that reflects their tastes in the way Netflix recommends movies to its subscribers based on what they like. Their wine profile continues to be updated as they grade what they drink,” said Lot18 Chief Executive Jay Sung in the report.
The FWC launched last Thursday, saying “members will pay around $10 for the tasting kit, $85 for their first case of a dozen bottles and about $150 for each quarterly delivery thereafter. Forbes and Lot18 will share profits.”
Wine clubs have been profitable ventures for publishers, “clubs in general are a good business for publishers because your readers trust you,” said Christina Grdovic, publisher of Food & Wine magazine, which has had a wine club since October 2009. “And people who are passionate about food and wine tend to be really good customers of other things.”
American Journalism Review Ending Print Edition
The American Journalism Review plans on ending its print edition and launching a new website in the Fall of 2013. To quote from their own report, “the American Journalism Review will end production of its print edition and launch a redesigned website in Fall 2013 as it becomes an online-only publication, the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism announced Wednesday. The current AJR website will continue to be maintained and new articles uploaded throughout the summer.” AJR.com will also host an archive from the publications’ 36-year history.
Sun-Times Downsizes Again
Jim Romenesko reports that Sun0Times Media has laid off 14 production employees. “The Sun-Times has expanded its relationship with Affinity Express for advertising services after more than two years of partnership with consistently positive results. This decision will help the company to optimize its ad production operation, but has led to the elimination of certain roles. We are working with affected employees on the transition, which will occur over the next few months.”
